Thumbprint snared robber four years after raid

Stefan Lukac was identified by a thumbprint he left at the scene of a robbery

A robber who fled the country after holding up a store at knifepoint has been jailed for the crime more than four years later.

Stefan Lukac, 25, was stopped and questioned at Meadowhall, near Sheffield, in October 2024 about an alleged shoplifting offence before being linked to the December 2020 raid, where he left a thumbprint on the till.

In that offence, knife-wielding Lukac threatened then assaulted a shop worker in Rotherham before making off with £140 and subsequently leaving the country.

He admitted a charge of robbery at Sheffield Crown Court and was jailed for four years and four months.

South Yorkshire Police's Det Con Georgia Evers said the "callous actions" of Lukac, of Grosvenor Road, Rotherham, had left a lasting impact on the shop worker he assaulted.

"Lukac brazenly returned to the UK likely not expecting to be held accountable for his offending," she said following his sentencing on 30 May.

"However this was not the case and Lukac will now spend a considerable time behind bars."

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